Conversation
by Delayne
Summary: Daria and Jane have an interesting conversation. A very short story involving a coming out. Rated T for language. This is *not* a Daria/Jane paring (I want to warn people who might be expecting that). Post-show. Setting: College.


Summary. Daria and Jane have an interesting conversation.

"Hey Jane, what are you doing here?" Daria said in her monotone voice. If she had been heard by anyone who did not know her it would have sounded like she was offended to see her best friend waiting in her dorm room and not merely surprised.

"I thought we could talk." Jane sounded nervous. It was a strange tone that made Daria start to feel uneasy.

Daria defaulted to avoidance. "Did Julie let you in?" She sat down in her own desk chair on the right side of the room. It was at the back of the elongated room. Bed near the door, then closet, then desk. It paralleled her roommate's side of the room on the left. Jane sat in Julie's chair.

Jane looked mildly disheveled, as if she had woken up put on her clothes and went back to sleep. Like that time Jane hung out all night with Tom and Daria came to work on that multimedia project.

Tom. What a clusterfuck that was. It really tested the bonds of their friendship. They came out stronger in the end. But that did not make it any less shitty for either of them. And after Daria and Tom broke-up well... Tom has the award for the only guy she had ever relation-date-shipped. It was just better not to become close to anyone... Daria knew that psychology might possibly point to that as to why she decided to change her mind about schools. She wouldn't have to worry about getting close to any guy here because there were none around.

Of course most of the straight girls were so boy crazy they were always headed into town. Or they snuck boys into the dorm, like no one would notice.

And then there were the lesbians.

Like her roommate.

Not that she had a problem with it of course. Daria had always been more of a "to each their own" kind of person. She did however had many a new acquaintance tell her she would make a great lesbian. She fit some sort of stereotype apparently.

She had never been flirted with more in her life. And she probably never would be again. Daria would always politely decline informing her new friend of her sexuality and whoever had asked her out continued their previous political or philosophical or whatever debate they were originally having. It took a while but eventually all the lesbians passed the word on and it happened with much less frequency.

Her roommate was cool. She was a different sort of geek than Daria's own pigeon hole. Daria figured herself to be an all-around nerd, with an emphasis in literature. Julie was more of a sci-fi techie kind of nerd. Which was nice, she helped upgrade Daria's computer for the latest Cannibal Frag Fest which had an online playing realm.

Daria realized she had been trapped in her head a little too long. And Jane had an expectant look like she wanted some sort of reaction to what she just said.

"What did you say?"

Jane ran her fingers through her hair. It only made her look more disheveled. It was still kept above her shoulders by an inch or so except for a strand that lay on her shoulder. It was a remnant of a new hair-dying bonding experiment. One that Julie was much more eager to participate in than Daria had been during their high school "woman or tiger" incident. It came from underneath her raven hair and had been bleached. It was currently braided and looked to have been attacked by a pink highlighter.

"I said, yes she did. I have actually been here for a while... hanging out."

It was a pregnant pause and Jane started to get that worried look again.

"Look Jane. You are my best friend and I love you. It is okay that you have other friends. I won't ever become a hysterical nut job again."

How could she forget the times she had been jealous when her best friend found time for anything else. Sure there was the Tom thing. There was also that time Jane joined the track team. Granted, they did not spend as much time with each other as they did in high school. Daria considered herself lucky to even still have Jane in her life. Jane went to a different college. Sure it was in the next town over but out here that was a 30 minute train or bus ride. And that was only because of the multiple stops.

She couldn't kid herself though, she had gotten a little jealous of how well Jane and Julie got on. But then she realized it wasn't a bad thing they could all be friends. It was actually a well-balanced trio.

"Hysterical is still a word I would never use to describe you but Daria this is a little more complicated than that."

Jane's demeanor coupled with her disheveled appearance began to worry Daria greatly. What could be wrong with her best friend that she had missed?

Jane just wasn't sure where to start. Should she go to the very beginning or the more recent one?

"Remember when I told you about the friend I made at the artist colony?"

It was a bizarre and short story about Jane being hit on by her fellow artist, the bi girl who then hooked up with the idiot instructor.

"She wasn't wrong." Jane said holding her breath.

"Come on Jane. You must think I am stupid. I already considered that. You are my best friend. Why would I care who you date?"

"Because it's Julie."

"Oh..."

Daria had not considered that possibility. Now she felt dumb.

"So you and Julie have been dating and I had no idea?" She wasn't being like Brittany, talking with questions to make you sound perky. She was honestly baffled that she did not notice.

"Yeah, we figured we should tell you soon. She didn't want you to find out by walking in on us."

Daria had walked in on Jane before. Jane and Tom. They were only kissing. Daria finally took in Jane's disheveled appearance for what it was. She was pretty sure they were well beyond the kissing stage.

"Jane, I really hope I never walk in on you."

The pause was killing Jane. Daria started unloading her book bag onto her desk.

"Let's go get Julie. I know she is in the common room." Daria said at last standing up.

"How do you know?"

Daria looked at her watch. "Because she is usually done with class and we are usually going for pizza by now. I assume if she wanted you to talk to me she would wait for some kind of signal."

Jane stood still, her turn to be dumbfounded. She expected at least some sort of reaction. But this was Daria, and her non-reaction was the most meaningful sort of acceptance.

"Come on Jane. It's your turn to buy."

***A Few Weeks Later***

Daria put the key into the knob of her dorm room. She pushed open the door and then quickly shut it again.

"You two owe me another pizza!" She yelled at the door.

They really should pay attention to her schedule better, otherwise why did she bother printing it off and posting it inside the door.

Third damn time since they came out as together. She was never going to have to pay for pizza night ever again. Or maybe she would up the price, there was that Cannibal Frag Fest expansion coming out soon. Daria smiled and took her book bag to the common room.

The End


End file.
